of a scheme, and ultimately the supreme court ruled it was ridiculous. they overruled and overturned the conviction unanimously in 2016. smith, by the way, also prosecuted former north carolina democratic senator and former vp candidate john edwards in 2011 on federal campaign finance laws, but in 2012 a jury found him not guilty on one count and they they deadlocked on the other five, resulting in a mistrial. oh, yeah, he also prosecuted bob menendez in 2015 in a pay-for-play scheme involving his office, but the trial ended in a hung jury. the doj again declined to retry to case. u.s. attorney merrick garland appointed smith to lead a pair of investigations surrounding the former president of the united states. one, his handling of classified documents found at mar-a-lago. we ve been talking about that. he s also responsible for another investigation, whether
a scheme to solicit loans and gifts from a virginia and corporation. ultimately, the supreme court ruled, well, that was ridiculous. they overruled and overturned that conviction unanimousl overt y in als 2016. smith, by the way, alsopr prosecuted formeosecr north carolina democratic senator and former vp candidate john edwardsr 2011 on federale campaign finance laws. bulaws, but in 2012, a jury foum not guilty on one countg in and they deadlocked on the other five, resulting in a mistrial. oh, yeah, he a mistri also prosecuted former new jersey democratic senator bob menendez in 2015 and a pay for play scheme involving his office. but an 11 week trial in 2017g ju ended in a hung jury. and the doj agai.n declined to retry that case. u.s. attorney generattornel merm garland, as you know, appointed smith to lead a pair of investigatioitd n surroundingits the former president of the united states. tae, hisone, his handling of clv documents found in mar-a-lago. we ve beene t talking about
sandwich. this is the first and only time our cameras have caught him since attorney general merrick garland appointed smith. and on that subject, we asked him where the investigation stands. is the indictment sir? is an investigation happening, sir? excuse us. anything you d like to say, mr. smith? he didn t say anything. didn t even look in our direction, but there are reasons to believe a charging decision is in fact coming soon. donald trump s lawyers were at doj headquarters yesterday meeting with him and other doj officials. jack smith and other doj officials and sources familiar with the investigation told nbc news the grand jury in washington, d.c. is set to meet
still vindicating the rule of law. the rule of law would require this case be pursued. understood, and interesting to get that update. i want to ask you about attorney general garland. a lot of us cover these individuals, but learning about them in your professional life, dealing with judges, with different individuals, you have a real closeness to it. here s some of what he said about specifically the insurrection of jan 6th probe. the only pressure i feel and the only pressure that our line of prosecutors feel is to do the right thing. that means we follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead. now, that s typical of people in those positions. i want to remind folks, when you appoint a special counsel, there s authorization, there are boundaries. when garland appointed smith with regard to the jan 6th probe, they made a point of basically saying the main justice was going to handle as you know, those physically present at the capital.
as the head of gop oversaw public corruption cases and those related to the investigations. garland says the appointed smith to avoid perception of any conflict of interest. since trump is now officially running for president, garland s boss, present, biden intends to run for reelection. trump s response should come as no surprise. last night at mar-a-lago, trump told a crowd of supporters that he is one of the most honest people in the country. immediately contradicting himself with moralize of a stolen election. the corruption highly political justice department just appointed a super radical left special counsel. this is a rigged deal, just as the 2020 election was rigged. we ll get into fall to that was nonsense. for trump wasn t, or let s remember exactly how he got here. donald trump s own words under repeated lies about the 2020 election paved the grounds for the january 6th insurrection at the capitol.